With all due respect, I am not surprised when an accused person expresses some confusion or frustration upon being processed by the criminal justice system. I understand why accused people and their families and friends sometimes question whether there really is a ‘presumption of innocence’ at all.

There is a presumption of innocence, guaranteed under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Charter also prohibits unreasonable search and seizure, and arbitrary detention. It guarantees fundamental rights of ‘life, liberty and security of the person’, including the right to reasonable bail and to ‘make full answer and defence’ in a fair hearing before an impartial and independent court of justice.

But these rights and liberties can be meaningless without the ability to enforce them in a court of law against the extensive powers of police and the Crown. Further, in some cases legal rights alone cannot save someone who is wrongly accused. If a witness lies, or even makes an honest mistake, police may take that story as the truth and an innocent accused can be convicted and sent to jail without any infringement whatsoever of their so-called ‘rights’ and ‘liberties’. Sometimes the only real protection is an experienced criminal lawyer.

My office is built on more than fifteen years of experience arguing cases in the Toronto criminal courts – bail, trial, appeals and beyond. As criminal defence counsel with expertise across the entire spectrum of criminal and ‘quasi-criminal’ law matters, my purpose is to get my clients out of the justice system with their liberty and dignity in tact. Initial consultations are generally free.